East side murder victim was member of infamous "Hot Boys"

Justin Fenton, The Baltimore Sun

Anthony "Stink" Joyner, who was fatally shot over the weekend in East Baltimore, had been released from federal prison last year after serving 10 years for his role in a drug gang tied to five murders including a 2001 Memorial Day block party shooting.

Police have not released a motive in the shooting of Joyner, who was shot in the head Sunday evening in the 200 block of Beale Ct. in the Douglass Homes housing project. He was killed the day he turned 34.

Court records and news articles show Joyner had been charged in 2002 along with 11 members of the "Hot Boys," an East Baltimore group who "gained respect and intimidated drug trade competitors by gunning down rivals," including the machine-gun killing in November 2000 of rival gang member Keith "Bones" Hamlet.

Prosecutors alleged that the group was responsible for the Memorial Day 2001 mass shooting at a block party that killed Lakeisha Moten, 24, who was the girlfriend of one of the leaders of the rival "North Avenue/Harford Road Boys" gang.

The block party shooting was one of the highest profile crimes at the time, with 11 people wounded in addition to Moten. The block party was a "Rest in Peace" event thrown at 2032 E North Ave. to remember Hamlet.

"What they're seeing now, with the weight of the federal government getting involved in this case, ought to send a message to the murderous thugs of Baltimore City," then-Police Commissioner Edward T. Norris said at the time. "When was the last time you heard of a drug dealer on the streets of Baltimore facing the ultimate penalty?"

Joyner was not charged with any violent crimes, and was convicted and sentenced on drug charges.

Records show he was released in March, and was on supervised probation through 2017.